How would you like headphones that turn into speakers or a small internal fan to cool your iPhone that doubles vibrate mechanism or the box your device came in becoming a cool dock/stand? Oh yes, all of these could be yours if any of Apple’s recent patent filings come to pass.

This trio of awesomely cool patents comes from Patently Apple. Read up on:

And get a sense of how cool some of the ideas Apple is cooking up are. Undoubtedly Apple hasn’t been its old innovative self lately, but maybe this designs are hints at what might be coming soon.

A fan in your iPhone (or iPad)? Sounds strange, but it would allow for more oomph under the hood if the device could have more than just passive cooling. Anyone who has noticed how warm there iPhone can get while charging or Personal Hotspot mode can attest—this might be great idea.

Headphones as speakers? Maybe this won’t come to pass, but maybe something like a proximity case or something (smart cover to smart tunes…). And I’m surprised Apple hasn’t done something cooler with their packaging before.

The new earbud packaging is genius. Well, genus until you unwrap the cord the first time. I still can’t get the cords to wrap like they were before. I have no idea how people do it.

Regardless, the thing here is that we should remember. Apple still has a ton of smart people working there. Breakthroughs and mind-blowing innovations don’t come overnight.

I look at how far Apple as pushed making things thin. We don’t see this are being huge, but it is. These incremental pushed are laying the foundation for the really cool stuff that we hope is coming from Apple in the future. Maybe there is something amazing that is due in a year or two that needed the new welding technologies to work. Maybe the iPad mini and new über think iMac were just test beds for how to manufacture using the technology.

Yes, I am an Apple fan boy. I get inspired when I see this stuff. Apple’s innovations over the past few years alone have helped me do my job better and faster. So, when I look at these cool patents and go, wow, well…it’s only because I know that better things are probably coming.

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